Manufacturers vouch for cheese

ITALIAN cheese makers are trying to assure customers their prized mozzarella is safe to eat after high levels of dioxin were found in some samples of the buffalo milk used to make it.

The manufacturers took out full-page adverts in Italian newspapers yesterday, outlining the controls for the top-branded mozzarella in an attempt to calm fears that everything from pizza to caprese salads might be contaminated. The tainted products came from a few buffalo milk farms in the southern Campania region.

Prosecutors in Naples have placed 109 people under investigation in connection with the probe, on suspicion of fraud and food poisoning.

Eighty buffalo herds in the Naples area have been quarantined on suspicion that their milk may contain dangerous levels of dioxin.

The animals grazed on land where toxic industrial waste may have been illegally dumped by criminals.

The local Mafia have been making huge profits by dumping toxic waste in the region. Dioxin, a chemical environmental pollutant, can be hazardous even in small amounts. When it accumulates in the body, it can be linked to cancer, birth defects and organ failure.

Over the past week, authorities have searched dozens of buffalo dairies and seized milk samples for tests after higher-than-permitted levels of dioxin were discovered in products from 29 mozzarella makers, news reports said.

Prosecutors in Naples have placed 109 people under investigation in connection with the probe, on suspicion of fraud and food poisoning.

Top-branded mozzarella carries the designation DOP, meaning it has certain protection and quality guarantees.